An “epidemic” of family breakdowns is at the root of crime and widespread extremism across Britain, a retired High Court judge claims.

Sir Paul Coleridge claims there is a clear correlation between family breakdowns and the perpetration of violent offences and extremist acts. He believes people that have missed out on a family habitat will associate with “like-minded” people, ultimately to achieve a sense of belonging and identity.

Coleridge, who was a High Court judge for 14 years, reiterated US President Donald Trump’s statement following the Manchester terrorist attack in May – which killed 22 people and injured hundreds more – that terrorists are “losers.”

“Terrorists are all from appalling family backgrounds,” Sir Coleridge told the Times.

“Donald Trump was right: they tend to be losers with no ties and so they find their identity in groups of like-minded people; or suffer mental breakdown,” the former senior judge said.

Coleridge, who spoke to the Times to mark the five-year anniversary of his charitable think tank, the Marriage Foundation, claimed that those most at risk are children.

“Teenage mental health issues, child abuse, domestic violence and abuse, the social care crisis, the housing crisis — everyone is either primarily caused by, or massively exacerbated by, the scale of family breakdown.”